


all that you are is all that i'll ever need

by alovelylilt



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, anyways this is just pure unadulterated plot-less fluff told in vignettes, heads up there's a lot of kissing in this!!, nini and ricky are so in love!!!!, okay there's a bit of plot but it's really just an excuse to write fluff, other characters are mentioned in this but it's really rini-centric, other than that it's just extremely SOFT, rini are both art majors in this, why? bc i say so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:00:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23625778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alovelylilt/pseuds/alovelylilt
Summary: Love is in the moments that belong to them alone. // And with the candles flickering around them, the pitter-patter of rain falling on the roof, and the love song that spills from her lips to his, it really does feel like forever.---Or, vignettes from Ricky and Nini's senior spring in college, told through various timestamps (featuring Ricky in photography, Nini in art curation, and plenty of fluff to spare).
Relationships: Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 29
Kudos: 124





	all that you are is all that i'll ever need

**Author's Note:**

> yeah! this really is just straight-up fluff!! rini really just makes me feel so soft!!!
> 
> p.s. the story is linear, but it's written in vignettes that don't necessarily follow directly after one another— i.e., 11:49pm doesn't happen on the same day as 2:36pm, 6pm doesn't happen on the same day as either of those, and so on and so forth.
> 
> p.p.s. the title of this piece is taken from ed sheeran’s tenerife sea!

2:36pm finds Nini dozing off in her last class of the day, her head lolling into her hands, propped up on the desk. Golden sunlight filters in through the windows lining one wall of the room; she usually loves her Asian Art History seminar, but it’s spring now and the world is opening up in real time, too big and lively to be contained within the stuffy confines of a lecture hall. Finally, class ends, and Nini hurries out the building and onto the quad with a bounce in her step, her ponytail swinging with every stride.

Outside, the grass is green and the breeze is balmy. It’s the perfect weather to be whimsical; she imagines fairies twirling in the air, settling lighting-quick on her shoulders before flitting off to dance through her hair.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about, sweet girl?” Ricky’s voice breaks her out of her thoughts. He’s sitting underneath a large tree— the one that’s basically theirs— and he’s got a fond smile playing at his lips and his heart in his eyes. Nini is always gorgeous, but spring brings out the pink in her cheeks and the hazel in her eyes, and he can’t help but fall in love all over again. 

“Oh, you know. Just daydreaming.” She shrugs and settles down next to him, yawning. 

“About?”

“Spring. Fairies. A little bit about you, to be honest.” She hides a smile in the crook of his neck.

“Oh yeah? Something sweet, I hope.” He wraps an arm around her and leans back against the tree, closing his eyes and letting the breeze ruffle his curls. 

“Now you’re just fishing for compliments.” Nini pokes his chest playfully before unwinding herself from him, laying her head down in his lap instead. “What were you doing before I came out here?”

“Waiting for you,” he answers honestly. If it makes him sound love-sick and pathetic, well, that’s just the truth. Nini opens her mouth, ready to say something sweet or cheeky (or both), but he stops her with a finger to her lips. “Hold still for me? The light is _perfect_ right now.” He pulls out his camera from his bag and sets up his shot, framing her carefully in his discerning gaze. After the shutter clicks, Nini juts her bottom lip out at him, silently but dramatically asking for a kiss. He bends down and obliges, ignoring the ache in his neck for the softness of her lips. Eventually, the discomfort is too great, and he has to pull away. 

“Are you ever going to tell me what you take all these pictures of me for? Or even show me the pictures?” she asks, blinking wide, inquisitive eyes at him. 

He smirks and taps her nose gently. “Maybe I just like taking pictures of you.”

She rolls her eyes, swatting his hand away. “Kissass.” They’re both silent for a moment, just taking in the tranquility of the moment. Nini yawns again, her eyes drooping shut as Ricky’s hands run through her hair, gently taking it out of its ponytail.

“You wanna take a nap or something? You look like you’re about to fall asleep, sweet girl.”

Nini hums and reaches up, blindly searching for his shoulders. “Come visit me down here for a sec,” she says.

Ricky raises an eyebrow but bends down anyway, pleasantly surprised when she kisses him, slow and sweet. His chest warms at the affection, and his hands curl into her hair. “What was that for?” he asks, a little breathless.

“A preemptive bribe.” She smiles winningly up at him. “Will you read my textbook to me while I nap?”

Ricky sighs and plucks her textbook out of her bag. It’s not like he can refuse her anything. “You know that’s not how it works, right? You’ll still have to read this yourself later. The words don’t just flow out of my mouth and into your brain like osmosis or something.”

Nini flaps a hand at him, her eyes already closed again. “Maybe I just like hearing your voice,” she says, mimicking his tone from earlier.

He snorts but opens the book with one hand anyway, his other hand continuing to stroke through her hair as he reads and she drifts off to sleep.

* * *

11:49pm finds Ricky going cross-eyed at his laptop, editing photos for his senior portfolio. His shoulders ache, he’s got a headache building up right in between his eyes, and the room feels entirely too warm. As if he’d conjured her up, Nini’s hands slide over his shoulders just then, her fingers cool and lovely against his heated skin. 

“I missed you today,” she murmurs, massaging the tense set of his shoulders. She’d been out running errands all day; Kourtney needed someone to try clothes on, Ashlyn and Seb wanted to get lunch, and then EJ had gotten himself into trouble with a girl again and needed advice. 

“Me too,” Ricky responds, rolling his chair around to face her properly. He’d been stuck in an editing haze all day and hadn’t seen Nini since she left in the morning. Now, he lets himself just stare at her, tracing his eyes adoringly over those familiar, beloved features. 

Nini presses a hand to his forehead and frowns. “You’re really hot, Ricky.” 

“Can’t help it, I was born this way.” He grins cheekily at her and dodges the incoming pinch she aims at his side. “You know this happens when I work for too long. I’ll sleep it off, I promise.”

Nini just sighs and leans forward to place a kiss in between his eyebrows, smoothing over the furrow that had dug its way there. “Let’s go sleep it off then, lover. It’s been a long day and I just want to cuddle.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” He follows her down the hallway to their bedroom easily. He’d follow her anywhere. 

“I can feel you staring, you know.” Nini looks amused as she crawls into bed. 

He shrugs carelessly. “We’re artists, Nini. We look for art and stare at it all day, so you can’t really blame me for staring at you, too.” As much as his words are meant to be romantic, they're also just simply true. He thinks she’s living, breathing art, and he could look at her for the rest of his life and never get bored.

Nini blushes against her will, enchanted despite the regularity with which he spouts his sweet nonsense. “C’mere. You can’t just say something like that and not expect me to kiss you.”

One corner of his mouth kicks up in a lopsided grin as he comes to sit in front of her, pressing her back into the pillows as he leans into her space. “Oh, I’m counting on it,” he breathes. When he kisses her, it’s like coming home and coming alive all at once.

“I love you,” she whispers. The words hang delicate and precious in the space between their lips.

He turns his head to the side and nudges her cheek with his lips. “I love _you_.” He places a few gentle kisses across her cheekbone before traveling down to her jawline. Her hands come up to wind through his hair, pulling and petting the curls in equal measure as she shudders against the featherlight imprints of his mouth on her skin.

“You are such a tease,” she grouses when he pulls away. She’s tingling all over, but she’s never been one to give up without a fight. “You’re such a tease,” she repeats, sitting up to loop her arms around his neck. “And it’s really not fair, because I don’t think you could take what you dish out,” she finishes, easing her fingers right back into his hair. He doesn’t get to ask her what she means, because her lips ghost over his throat and his mind goes blank. Her mouth is warm and soothing against the column of his neck, and he feels the tension in his body melting away with each press of her lips.

By the time she decides she’s done having her fun, Ricky is warm all over for a different reason. Nini giggles at the flush spreading up from his neck, and then she sighs— he looks fairly angelic, with those soft curls and cherub cheeks. She’s so in love with him, it makes her want to scream into a pillow sometimes. 

“Now look who’s staring,” Ricky points out, laughing when the dazed look in her eyes clears away. He’s kind of proud that he can still affect her like that, after all this time.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re art, too, Ricky Bowen.” She pats the space beside her. “Can we sleep now?”

Ricky’s heart always skips a beat at the way she phrases these things to sound like he’s doing her a favor, when in reality they both know that he’s the one who needs to rest but would never admit it. She’s so damn thoughtful and wonderful, and of all the people in the world, she loves _him_ — it’s enough to knock the breath out of his lungs sometimes. “Anything you want,” he agrees easily, sliding in next to her. 

She presses her forehead to his, her eyelashes fluttering against his skin as she hums thoughtfully. “I think your temperature’s back to normal, but we’ll check in the morning just to make sure,” she decides. 

“See? I didn’t even need to sleep it off. Just needed you,” he mumbles, his eyelids falling shut as the exhaustion of the day catches up with him. The world fades away and his breathing slows; in less than a minute, he’s lulled to sleep by the steady rhythm of her heart. 

“Have the sweetest dreams, lover,” she whispers, leaving one last kiss on his forehead before she, too, falls under the spell of nighttime’s embrace. 

* * *

6pm on the dot finds Nini getting ready to leave her museum shift, packing up her bag and thinking about what she’ll have for dinner tonight.

“Delivery for Salazar-Roberts?” Ricky’s head of unruly curls pops into view at the entrance of the gallery she works in. He’s holding a pizza box and a picnic basket in his hands, and she already knows what he’s up to. 

“This feels like an abuse of my head docent privileges,” Nini admonishes half-heartedly, but she still follows him to the grand, airy foyer of the museum, where he spreads out a blanket in the center of the floor and lays out their dinner. 

He gives her his best pout and throws in the big doe eyes for good measure, and it’s not long before she’s lying on the blanket with him, feeding him chocolate-covered strawberries from the palm of her hand. 

Nini sits up as a thought occurs to her. “You got this from High School Musical 3, didn’t you?”

Ricky offers her a boyish grin from where he’s still lying down, his head propped up by his elbow. “So maybe I _was_ paying attention when we watched it last week. Whatcha gonna do about it?”

Nini raises an eyebrow and shoves another strawberry into his mouth. It’s kind of rough and more than a little ungraceful, but she makes up for it with the way she softens her lips against his, stealing away a bit of the strawberry when she pulls away to kiss his ear. A full-body shiver runs through him when her lips wrap around his earlobe, and god, she’s gotta be some kind of magic. “That’s what I’m gonna do about it,” she says finally, releasing his ear from her teeth. 

He just blinks at her for a moment, pupils blown wide and blushing to high heaven. “You are… so hot.”

“Oh, shut up.” He grins at her eye roll and pulls her back down on top of him, simply reveling in the way her hair falls down like a curtain over them. In here, under the skylights of the foyer as the sun sets, dreams come to life and reality takes a backseat.

“You look like a Degas right now,” he tells her, matter-of-fact and serious. Soft tendrils of evening light curl around her, as if the sun was made to set for the sole purpose of framing her like this. “Can I take a picture of you?”

Nini flushes pink and smiles helplessly at him. The thing about Ricky is that he can be obnoxiously charming as a joke, and she can laugh at him all day and tease him for it. But the instant he turns on that heart-stopping sincerity, she’s gone, lost in a cloud of affection for this soft, sweet boy. She can’t refuse him anything, either, so she reaches over to his bag to pull out his camera and hand it to him. “Do you want me to pose or something?” she asks, tugging on a piece of her hair self-consciously. 

“Nah, just… look at me, sweet girl. The way you always do.” It’s the way people look when they’re in love; Ricky’s seen it plenty of times on his own face in pictures where he’s staring at Nini. 

The shutter clicks a few times as Nini tilts her head this way and that. When he puts the camera away, she asks, “How’s the senior portfolio going?” 

He wags a finger at her. “Nuh-uh, Nini, you aren’t getting anything out of me.”

“Oh, come on! Why not? Big Red told me he’s doing urban landscapes for his, why can’t you tell me about yours?” She pouts dramatically, but he isn’t falling for it. 

“I want it to be a surprise, Nini. The whole point of a surprise is the not knowing,” he says pointedly. “Besides, it’s not like you’re willing to tell me what your senior thesis is about, either.”

She sticks her tongue out at him. “Do as I say and not as I do, Richard,” she intones imperiously. The act is broken a second later when she dissolves into giggles. “But seriously, I’m so excited for senior night. Kourtney’s making the gala outfits for all of us, and I got to try mine on the other day, and let me tell you, it was the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen in my life…”

They talk late into the night, whispering secrets and sharing kisses as the stars come out to decorate the sky, like so many pinpricks of light in the lush darkness of the night.

* * *

9:13pm finds the lights in Ricky and Nini’s apartment gone dark, as well as the lights up and down the city block. Nini emerges from the bathroom, where she had been blow drying her hair before the power went out. “Ricky?” she calls out, turning on her phone’s flashlight.

“In the kitchen!” he calls back, his own phone held between his teeth as he searches for a lighter. There are so many little tea candles leftover from a romantic setup they had planned for their anniversary a couple months ago, and if he could just find a lighter… “Aha!” Ricky holds up two lighters triumphantly.

Nini walks in like something out of a horror movie, a too-big t-shirt (that is definitely his) hanging off of her small frame and her hair dripping onto the kitchen tiles ominously. The howling wind and pounding rain outside doesn’t help. “Ricky?”

He drops his phone in fright. “Nini! God, you scared me.” 

She stifles a laugh as she comes over. “Sorry about that, lover. What’s up with the candles?”

“Oh, I figured we could put these to good use. Who knows how long this blackout is going to last.” He hands her a lighter and gestures to the candles. “Wanna light them up around the place?”

“Won’t that be a fire hazard?”

“Neens, I’m pretty sure this whole building is a fire hazard.”

“Fair enough. I’ll start in the hallway, you can start in the bedroom, and we’ll meet in the middle?”

Eventually, the apartment is bathed in soft candlelight. Ricky finds Nini curled up on the couch in their tiny living room, combing through her hair absentmindedly as she squints at her laptop. Wordlessly, he slips in behind her and takes the comb from her hands, working it gently through her hair as she continues typing. “I’m not peeking. Scout’s honor,” he promises.

Nini turns away from her thesis to send him a quizzical look. “Were you a boy scout?”

“For like two years in elementary school, yeah.”

She smiles at the image that appears in her mind: little Ricky Bowen, eyes even wider and hair even curlier at age 7 or 8, earnest and toothy-grinned in a boy scout uniform. “Oh my god, I’m totally going to text your dad for pictures. I bet you were the cutest thing ever!”

“What, I’m not cute anymore?”

She sighs dramatically. “Sadly, no. I just have boring old college senior Ricky Bowen, and he’s not cute at all.”

“Take it back,” he whines, tugging on her hair like a child. Beseechingly, he peppers kisses all over her face— eyelids, cheeks, forehead, chin, wherever his mouth can reach.

She laughs uncontrollably. “Fine, fine, fine. Ricky Bowen, you are the cutest person in the world,” she declares, pushing his face away with a bright grin. 

“Can’t be true, sorry. That’s you, sweet girl.” He extracts the laptop from between them and places it on the coffee table before bringing her into his arms. “College senior Ricky Bowen, huh? I feel like it was just yesterday that I spotted the prettiest girl across the quad freshman year.”

“And then you proceeded to trip down the steps of the art building? Yeah, I remember that pretty distinctly, too.” She smiles against his neck.

“Shush, you. That’s not what I meant.” He kisses her exposed shoulder gently. “I just mean… I dunno, time is flying by, I guess. Are you nervous to graduate?”

She considers the question seriously. Most of their friends are already set with their post-graduation plans. Kourtney’s going to Paris to apprentice under Alexandre Vauthier’s fashion house, Gina’s accepted an offer with the Paris Opera Ballet, and Nini will eventually make it to the Sorbonne in Paris as part of the study abroad component for the master’s program in art curation she’ll be attending at Columbia in the fall. Big Red’s going to travel around the country, hiking and taking photographs for National Geographic, while Carlos and Seb have both been cast in Hamilton’s U.S. tour. Ashlyn will take on an assistant director’s position at an all-female arts organization in Boston, and EJ’s heading to Chicago to work for an architectural firm famous for environmental innovation. Life is rushing at them fast, but she’s not afraid of it; the world of the arts is small, and she’s sure she and her friends will see each other often. Of course, that just leaves Ricky. He’s been silent on his post-graduation plans so far, but she knows he’s gotten plenty of offers. She isn’t scared of distance— life is full of it, after all— but it’s the not knowing that’s killing her.

“I’m not really nervous,” she says. “I just wanna know what’s on your mind, lover.”

He makes a face and nuzzles his way into her neck, tracing mindless patterns into the skin with the tip of his nose. “My mom keeps calling, you know. About the retreat and everything… I dunno. Dad calls, too, but he’s just excited to come to senior night. He thinks I’m gonna propose that night or something, like how he did with my mom. But look how that turned out…” He chuckles self-deprecatingly.

She hums and brings a hand up to the back of his head, running her fingers through the soft strands. “She can’t ruin your night, Ricky. I won’t let her.”

Slowly, he raises his head to look her in the eye. “Speaking of proposing… you know I’m gonna do it eventually, right? You’re _it_ for me, Nini. I hope that’s okay with you.”

They’ve talked about it before— getting married, the whole forever of it all, and everything. They’re still young, and they’re not stupid; they’re planning to wait at least another couple years, until they’ve both settled into their careers. But it feels good to know that's where they’re headed eventually, and it feels even better to know that Ricky wants it as much as she does, that he wants to make forever last in a way that he never saw in his parents. So she just kisses him slowly, luxuriously, like they’ve got all the time in the world. And with the candles flickering around them, the pitter-patter of rain falling on the roof, and the love song that spills from her lips to his, it really does feel like forever.

* * *

3:27pm finds Nini standing on the steps of the arts building, filled to the brim with bubbling joy, because she’s just gone through her thesis defense, and she’s going to graduate _summa cum laude_. 

“Yo, Nini!” Ricky yells from across the quad. He’s coming at her at a clip, practically sprinting. He’s all smiles and congratulations when he picks her up and twirls her around, murmuring effusive praise in her ear. “Hey, hey, sweet girl, you’re the smartest person in the world!”

They’re both smiling too hard to kiss properly, but they try anyway. Soon, they’re overtaken by their friends, who all gather around Nini to congratulate her.

Eventually, they all have to part to get ready for the senior night gala; Kourtney whisks away the girls, while the boys gather in EJ’s bachelor pad. Carlos tries to convince Ricky to wear a bit of eyeliner, which he shoves away with a laugh and a warning of how he’s going to cry it all off, anyway. EJ cajoles them all into doing a shot, and then Big Red gathers them around to let Ricky take a picture of them.

Soon it’s 5:30pm, and Ricky is fiddling with the cuffs of his shirt as he waits in the foyer of the museum Nini works at. Tonight, everything has been converted into a huge exhibition space for all the senior arts students to showcase their work; Nini will finally present her thesis to her friends (happily, now that the pressure is off), and Ricky will unveil his senior portfolio. EJ and Big Red’s collaboration on architecture and photography of urban landscapes is showcased on full display directly in the foyer. Carlos, Seb, and Gina will perform at the end of the night, Ashlyn organized the whole thing, and Kourtney’s clothes will be walking around on all their bodies. It’s the kind of full-circle moment that had seemed so out of reach during the hardest, most stressful times in college, but it’s finally here.

When Nini enters the museum, Ricky’s jaw drops and his throat dries. There are flowers in her hair and sewn into the gauzy material of her dress; Kourtney is a master of her trade, and sure, Ricky might be biased, but he thinks Nini looks like a fairytale come true. 

Big Red has to gently nudge his mouth shut, snorting unsubtly as he pushes him towards Nini. Ricky stumbles a bit on his way to her before his hands slide around her waist and hers smooth over the lapels of his tuxedo. 

“Wow, you’re really handsome,” she murmurs, fluttering her eyelashes at him with coy intention. “Can I get your number or something?”

“Sorry, I have a girlfriend. About this tall, brown hair, brown eyes, and I think that whatever deities exist probably spent a little extra time on her? She’s hard to miss, I’ll tell you that much.” Ricky’s words come out much smoother than the erratic beat of his heart. “Nah, seriously, Nini. You’re just… unreal.”

She laughs and straightens his tie. “I would make some sort of joke about jumping you to prove that I’m real, but I’ve gotta get to my gallery to set up for my thesis presentation. See you in an hour?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. C’mon, one kiss before you go?” he pleads, his thumbs rubbing enticing circles against her hip.

She obliges happily, kissing him square on the mouth and then once more on the cheek. Carlos hands him a napkin after she leaves, gesturing to the lipstick marks on Ricky’s face, which he wipes off with only a modicum of embarrassment. Yeah, he’s a fool in love. And what about it?

* * *

“The title of my thesis is Love and Other Forms of Art,” Nini begins. “It explores different types of love across different cultures, and the terribly beautiful artwork it inspires.” As she continues her presentation, her eyes wander around the room. She makes eye contact with everyone she loves as she explains how each piece she chose to study was inspired by someone in her life. 

Finally, she gets to the end of her presentation. “Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for coming here tonight. For all your encouragement over the years, for the late night commiseration and early morning coffee, for the days spent wandering and wondering at all the art that life has to offer. My friends, my family, my classmates, my professors— you’re all here to celebrate me celebrating love. That’s a glorious thing.” She turns to Ricky, who has been watching her with teary eyes the whole time. “Now, any thesis on love wouldn’t be complete without a mention of the one who holds my heart in his hands. Heads up, guys, this is going to get sappy.” Scattered laughter erupts around the room, but almost everyone is close to shedding a tear.

“Ricky.” Nini takes a deep breath. “I love you. This isn’t news to you, of course, but I just wanted to say it. Anyways, the reason I wouldn’t tell you anything about my thesis for so long was because there wasn’t much to say. I got stuck for a while, trying to figure out a way to wrap it all up. And then I thought of you, and I thought of love. There are all these works of art that depict all-consuming, life-upending love. I think they’re lovely, but they’ve never been my favorite. Then there are all these works of art that depict star-crossed, fated love, and they’re beautiful as well, but they’re not my favorite, either. My favorite works of art that depict love are quiet. They’re humble and patient and kind, just like you.” Nini’s voice wavers as she approaches tears herself.

Beaming widely, she forges on. “If you asked me why I love you, I could give you a million reasons. But none of those reasons would be terribly unique; after all, I’m sure there are other people out there in the world who eat cereal dry like you do, who are a little bit scared of the dark like you are, or who suck at Wii Sports the way you do. And I’m sure there are other people out there in the world who could love me like you do, who would take care of me and fit me just right, like you do. But I don’t want any of them. I just want you. And there’s no cosmic, perfect reason for why I want you. There’s nothing intrinsically special about you or me that separates us from any of the other billions of atoms that constitute this world, but I want you all the same.”

She clears her throat, finally turning her gaze back to the rest of the room. “Sorry, everyone. You know I like to be dramatic. I just have this feeling that Ricky is going to do something ridiculously romantic when he reveals his senior portfolio later, so I wanted to one-up him,” she jokes. “No, but really. What I want to end on tonight is this: love induces us to war, to reconciliation, to sacrifice, to reaching beyond the stars, and every other human endeavor in history. There’s nothing as storied and powerful as love. Ultimately, I’m just another speck in the time-space continuum, like anyone else. But if there’s anything I can give to the world, I’d like to start with this thesis, which doesn’t argue so much as it sighs, reverent and indulgent in its admiration of love. Thank you, and goodnight.”

Ricky’s still crying when she reaches him ten minutes later, after getting through a crowd of well-wishers. They all knew he was going to cry tonight— Ricky is easily the most sentimental of all their friends, perhaps tying with Seb or Ashlyn— and had a betting pool going to see whose senior project could get him to cry harder, but there was never really any doubt as to who would take home that prize.

Nini came prepared; she bought the softest tissues she could find weeks ago, knowing that he would need them in large quantities tonight. She hands him one now, a little amused but mostly just in love. 

The first thing he says to her is, “My god, these are the softest things I’ve ever felt in my life. Where’d you find these?” 

She laughs and helps dab away the tears that had collected under his chin. “Kourtney has this friend in textiles? Honestly the strangest person I’ve ever met, but they set me up with this boutique tissue maker. I didn’t even know that was a thing, but I respect the hustle, I guess.”

“Did you buy these with the money from the betting pool?” He sniffles, plucking another tissue from the pack in her hands.

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

“Oh, come on. You guys have this bet every time some big holiday or occasion comes up. Isn’t it getting a little old?” 

“Nah, I think there’s still some suspense to it. I mean, I always feel like I’m going to win, but who knows— maybe you’ll surprise us one day.”

“Not a chance tonight,” he points out. “Nini, your thesis…”

She smiles warmly at him, cupping his damp cheeks in her palms. “Yeah, I got you good, didn’t I?”

“You always do. God, I love you so much. You really didn’t have to do that, you know.”

Her answer is simple and drenched in affection. “I wanted to.” It’s an easy echo of the words she’d spoken during her presentation.

“Well, you better save some of these tissues for yourself, sweet girl. I have a little surprise of my own for you,” he sing-songs, lacing their fingers together. 

“But first… you have to talk to your parents,” she reminds him.

He grimaces. “Do I?”

“You kinda do. C’mon, I know I saw your dad around here somewhere…” She drags him off through the galleries, ignoring his half-hearted protests. Finally, she spots Mike’s head cocked at an angle, staring at a piece of modern art. 

She taps him on the shoulder, and he spins around with a wide grin. “Hey, kiddos! Nini, your thesis was fantastic. Loved the section on the ancient Greeks, by the way. Ricky, my boy!” Mike engulfs Ricky in a bear hug, and Ricky drops all pretense and hugs him back just as hard.

“Hey, Dad. It’s good to see you. Having a good time tonight?” Ricky gestures around at all the art surrounding them. His dad is an art history professor of his own right, but he had always preferred the relative quietude of Utah to New York City, and he doesn't make it out to the East Coast often. It meant a lot to Ricky to see him tonight.

“Absolutely! This stuff is incredible. You guys are the future, I mean it.” Mike claps a hand on Ricky’s shoulder. “And you! When am I going to see that senior portfolio of yours?”

“Really soon, Dad. Um, where’s Mom?” Ricky’s voice quiets considerably. “Did she… not make it tonight?”

Mike’s jovial expression cracks for a second, but it’s enough for Ricky to notice. “Yeah, I’m sorry, Ricky. Your mom’s doing another one of those… artistic cleanses, but she made me promise to record everything and send it to her. And she wants to be the first to know when you decide on post-grad stuff!”

Ricky smiles tightly. “Well, that’s going to be a little difficult, because I’m deciding tonight, and she isn’t here to be the first one to know.”

Nini’s hand is small but solid in his, and she squeezes once just to let him know that she’s here. He’s mostly made his peace with his absentee mother, who’s been too famous and too artistically pure for just about everything in his life. Still, it stings a little, to know that her love for him is so misplaced and uninviting.

A beep from his watch reminds him of the time. He hugs his dad again before slipping his hand out of Nini’s. “Gotta go set up now, but I’ll see you both soon, okay?” He drops a kiss on Nini’s forehead and then he’s off.

* * *

A single spotlight illuminates Ricky as he stands before the audience gathered in the gallery. It’s everyone he loves, except for his mom. He clears his throat and begins. “Welcome, everyone. I know I’ve been kind of dramatic about this whole thing— Nini’s not the only one who can do that, you know— and I’ve kept it shrouded in secrecy and stuff, but honestly, it’s because I was really nervous. As most of you will know, I usually only shoot in black and white. So, when my advisor asked me if I wanted to shoot in color for my senior portfolio, I kinda wasn’t into it at first. You see, my mom always shot in black and white. She needs no introduction— you all know Lynne. People call her an artistic visionary, a once-in-a-generation talent. I won’t argue with that, because it’s true. All my life, I wanted to create art that touched people as much as hers did. My dad says it’s extraordinary, the way that art transcends every boundary in human history.” Ricky tips his head at his dad, sending him a wink.

“And he’s right. Art is nothing short of a miracle. That’s the theme of my senior portfolio: Tiny Miracles. I tried doing it in black and white, like I usually do, but it felt a little too empty. So, I took my advisor’s suggestion and ran with it. Tonight, every single photograph on display is in full color. Shooting in color was freeing in a way I’d never expected, and it all started with one very special person.” Ricky tugs off the black cloth covering the center display in one smooth motion, and a mixture of gasps and sighs go up around the room. There are gasps because it’s his first full color photograph, yes, but there are sighs because it’s a photograph of Nini. She’s dancing on top of a table at some house party, her hair whirling around her and her arms thrown up in the air. 

“I took this photograph on a whim, with a shoddy disposable camera that my mom sent me as a joke gift. I guess that’s her type of humor, but I fell in love with this photo. The rest are much better quality, and I hope you’ll agree as much, but this one started it all.” In quick succession, Ricky starts revealing the other photographs on display. There’s Gina and Carlos, doing the splits in the middle of the library while Kourtney pretends she doesn’t know them. Nini with a dab of ice cream on her nose as she laughs, reaching for the camera. EJ with his face covered in graphite pencil after falling asleep on top of one of his drafts. Nini with her head in Ricky’s lap, laying in the grass underneath their tree. Big Red with his camera, climbing on top of a fence to get the best shot. Nini with her hair splayed out on her pillow, a sleepy smile on her lips. Gina and Ashlyn falling over themselves laughing as they try to teach EJ how to waltz. Nini again, framed by the light of a dying sun in the foyer of the museum. Seb playing piano, with Carlos staring adoringly at him. Nini once more, her face shadowed by candlelight. Kourtney doing Ashlyn’s makeup. Nini, squinting at the camera from behind her laptop. Mike, surrounded by books and looking for his glasses.

“These are the tiny miracles in my life. The world is kinda the worst sometimes, you know? But sometimes, it’s also the best, because these people are in my life. You’ll notice that there’s a common theme here— they’re just little moments of everyday life. Nothing special, I suppose, but I hope it makes you feel something. I hope it makes you feel like there are tiny miracles happening each day, in every love story and act of friendship and bond of family. Tiny miracles like the love that’s given to me every day by Nini.” 

He turns to her now, sending her a dazzling smile. “You were right, Neens. I _was_ planning on doing something ridiculously romantic tonight, so here it is. You kept asking me why I was taking all those pictures of you, and I always said that I just liked it. And that’s true— I think taking pictures of you is one of the simplest joys in life. But more than that, you made me want to capture the world in color. Black and white isn’t enough to convey the color of your eyes, the texture of your hair, or the light that dances around you. Black and white isn’t enough to radiate the way you make me feel, like I am loved and I will never stop being loved.” 

Ricky clears his throat, valiantly fighting back tears as he sweeps his gaze across the crowd. “Part of the reason why I waited until now to let anyone see what I was doing for my senior portfolio was because I wasn’t sure what I would do afterwards. I’m talking about my post-grad plans— you know, just the rest of my life or whatever. I know this night isn’t about her, but I have to circle back to my mom one more time. She’s a purist in every sense of the word— she’s on an artistic cleanse right now, actually, isolated from the rest of the world as she finds her newest inspiration. She always encouraged me to follow in her footsteps and do the same thing after college: go out into the world, cut myself off from everyone else, and produce art. I used to think that that was the only way to become a legend like she is. But all of you have shown me, in some way or another, that art only means something if you share it with someone. Art is beautiful because someone thinks it’s beautiful, not because it exists.”

Ricky unveils the second-to-last photo, which is a rare one of Lynne. “My mom wanted me to join the photographer’s retreat she went to, where she shot her first award-winning piece. It’s a beautiful place with some of the most talented photographers in the world, spending day in and day out immersed in their craft. She wanted me to go there straight after college, and then spend the rest of my life creating art. I’m going to do that second part, but not the first.” He takes a deep breath before stripping the cloth off of the last photo. It depicts a gallery in the Met, with Nini silhouetted against a huge painting, her head tilted in contemplation.

“I want to be surrounded by art of every kind, not just photography. I want the art that lives in everyday life, in these tiny miracles that occur every time I get a funny text or someone holds the elevator for me. Maybe that isn’t pure, and maybe I won’t be a legend like Lynne, but I dunno, I kind of trust that I will. Call it arrogance or the product of my friends gassing me up too much, but yeah, I think I’ll be able to find my path to greatness without sacrificing the richness of a full color life just to do it. Actually, this color thing… I want to develop it further and keep learning, which is why I’ll be joining Nini at Columbia in the fall for my master’s. Sorry, sweet girl, you can’t get rid of me that easily. I’m going to grow and explore and make some art, and maybe I’ll go down in history along the way. More than anything else, I just want to be able to love the people who I love in the moments in between. Thank you so much for coming tonight, and please stick around if you want to see me cry some more.” 

True to form, tears flow freely down Ricky’s face as he embraces his friends and takes in praise from his professors. But the one person he really wants to see is nowhere to be found.

Ricky’s lost puppy look is evident from a mile away, so Mike decides to help him out. “She’s out there,” he supplies, pointing to the double doors leading to the balcony.

Indeed, Nini is leaning against the stone balustrades, her hair flowing freely in the slight breeze. She can feel his presence before he even opens his mouth; she turns around and opens her arms for him. “Hey, lover.”

He reaches her in two strides, wasting no time before kissing her, hard. “Sorry, that was kind of a lot, wasn’t it?” he murmurs, pulling back to trace a finger down her cheek. “Were you crying?”

“Is that a joke? I was pretty much bawling, Ricky. That was the sweetest thing ever. You’ve absolutely ruined all other romantic gestures in the history of romantic gestures, you know that?” Nini’s laugh is watery as she pulls out another tissue. “God, these tissues are amazing.”

“Right? They’ve gotta be made out of a special material or something.”

“You’re really coming to Columbia with me?” she asks, quiet and timid. It’s almost too good to be true; she just wants to hear it a second time.

“Oh yeah, you’re going to get sick of me real soon,” he teases gently, leaning forward to press their foreheads together.

“Never,” she promises. 

And she seals it with a kiss, so he knows it’s real and true and everlasting.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed!! leave a comment or a kudos if ur feeling it, and maybe check out some of my other stuff if u liked this? i'm off to go watch my lectures that i skipped last week oops


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